When a game of golf is being played, the achievements of the individual player are measured by recording the number of strokes used on the individual golf hole. After the game is finished, the results from the individual hole are, in short, added up, and the player who has used the fewest number of strokes, possibly corrected for the so-called handicap of the player, has won the game.
The recording of the player's achievements is usually done after each hole played, by recording the number of strokes used for the individual hole on a so-called scorecard of paper by means of a pen or pencil, or a scorecard including movable indicators that are moved to a position expressing the number of strokes used. After the game is finished, the results are added up both for each individual hole and in total.
For the recorded result to be valid in a tournament and/or for changing the player's handicap, it is required that it should be confirmed by a marker. The marker is one of the other players who are playing in the same starting group. Marker tasks, that is to say who is going to be a marker of whom, will be distributed by the players in the starting group before start. In the course of the game, the player and the marker each record the number of strokes used by the player on a respective scorecard. After the game is finished, the values that the player and marker have recorded are compared. If they agree, the result is approved and the player and marker attest that the result is correct.
In many cases, a golfer will additionally compile statistics from some chosen results in a round of golf. This may be fairway hits, out of bunker in one stroke and the number of putter strokes used. These results are often kept, preferably for comparison with the statistics of a round played later on the same golf course.
Especially in connection with tournaments, there is a wish to record the results of the golf game in a scoring list or a database as quickly as possible, with the least possible time consumption and with the least possible risk of errors in the recording.
For this recording to take place in the simplest possible way, optical recording devices already known may be utilized. They take a picture of the scorecard and the picture is transferred to a computer, in which software reads the results from the picture. The results are processed by the computer by means of the software and, thus, the result may be provided relatively quickly. This system is referred to hereinafter as a reading system.
However, these reading systems turn out to have difficulties in recognizing and interpreting the handwriting of some people. A known solution to this problem is a scorecard intended for mechanical optical reading, wherein the scorecard has been realized in a design in which movable indicators uncover predefined values that the software has been programmed to recognize.
The optical recording device may also be used to compare the player's scorecard with a scorecard in which the marker has recorded the player's results, and validate these.
To simplify the reading operation further, a plural number of scorecards may be placed on the reading system at the same time, after which a reading system is arranged to recognize each scorecard and read it as an isolated scorecard. The drawback of this solution is how to make a flexible identification of the marker and the player.
A system like that is known from the applicant's Norwegian patent application NO20120187 which discloses a reversible scorecard for recording the number of strokes in a game of golf, wherein the number of strokes used to complete a golf hole is recorded in the scorecard in a binary number system, characterized by the scorecard being provided with a plurality of spaced-apart indicator devices, each of the indicator devices being arranged to be moved to any one of the at least a first position and a second position, and each of the indicator devices placed in the first position showing a first indicator picture which is mechanically optically distinguishable from a second indicator picture which is shown when the indicator device is placed in the second position.
Said system has turned out to work excellently with respect to recording speed and accuracy. However, it is riddled with some drawbacks with respect to providing a flexible identification of the marker and connecting him to a player. This must be indicated and connected manually in the system.